1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to mechanical horse walkers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Horse trainers commonly use horse walkers for the purposes of forcing a horse to walk during a "cool down" period after a race in order to protect the horse from muscle stiffening and respiratory infections, training a horse and breaking a horse to harness or halter when the horse is young. Traditionally, the horse walker was an exercise boy who led the horse by the reins. In more modern times, several types of mechanical devices have been developed to motivate a horse to move in a walking gait.
For example, Profughi (U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,018) discloses a horse walker apparatus having spokes connected to a rotating hub. A horse is tethered to a spoke and pulled along when the hub rotates.
Losaw (U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,551) discloses a mechanical horse walker that is portable. Curtis (U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,274) discloses a mechanical horse walker with a continuously variable transmission for preventing injury to a horse.
The mechanical horse walkers disclosed in the prior art teach the use a tether in which a horse is pulled in a circle by a rotating arm. This presents several problems. The mechanical force provided by the rotating arm pulling the horse's tether is sometimes inadequate impetus for a balking horse to keep moving. Some of the existing art mechanical horse walkers have slip clutches or other devices to prevent injury to the horse. However, these devices do not provide any impetus to keep the horse moving except for a pull on the tether. Thus, a balking race horse may injure himself by failing to keep walking after a race.
Another problem with mechanical horse walkers of the existing art is that they do present a hazard to a horse, because a mechanical malfunction of a protective device, such as a slip clutch, may result in the horse being dragged by the horse walker.
Yet another problem of mechanical horse walkers of the existing art is, because they use a tether, they restrict the movement of the horse's head; and restrict the horse to a narrow circular path, as limited by the length of the tether.